Professors from the Consortium University Developing the 5th NPM Couse Syllabus on “The Rule of Law and Nonprofit Sector”

Professors from the Consortium University Developing the 5th NPM Couse Syllabus on “The Rule of Law and Nonprofit Sector”

On January 26-27, 2017 over 20 professors from 11 Consortium Universities participated in a two-day Professional Development Workshop conducted by local consultant Zaure Sydykova at the KNU NPM Resource Center to develop the course syllabus on “The Rule of Law and Nonprofit Sector.” KNU’s NPM Resource Center Coordinator Irys Beybutova chaired the workshop and welcomed the Chief of Party of the USAID Collaborative Governance Program, Mark Grubb, to open the workshop. Mr. Grubb highlighted the professors’ commitment and expressed his high appreciation of professors’ hard work in developing the NPM courses. Mr. Grubb highlighted the notable results the Consortium of Universities on NPM, and the Association of NPM Educators achieved: the launch of four NPM courses in 11 Kyrgyz Universities, establishment of a network of NPM Resource centers at Kyrgyz National, Osh, Batken and Naryn State Universities, development of the NPM Textbook with Glossary to be published by fall 2017. The Coordinators of OSU, BSU and NSU NPM Resource Centers presented him the letters of appreciation from the leadership of their Universities in recognition of the significant contribution Mr. Grubb made for the development of NPM education and preparing the “next generation” of civil society leaders in the Kyrgyz Republic.

In her turn, Yrys Beybutova made an accent on sustainability as main result of the USAID CGP work in the Kyrgyz Republic and shared her hopes for further development in the field of the Rule of Law in the Kyrgyz Republic. Zaure Sydykova kicked off the discussion of the syllabus for the 5th NPM course “The Rule of Law and Nonprofit Sector”, and outlined the main objectives of the work, “The most important thing is to find balance between the global experience and national context in developing the syllabus. The kernel of the work should be the Kyrgyz reality as well as application of theoretical findings in practice”. She also emphasized the unique character of the work being done, “There are no examples for us to follow. It is the course that is now being decided in our heads”.

The workshop participants welcomed guest lecturers of the Kyrgyz nonprofit sector. First, Nazgul Turdubekova from the Public Foundation “Child’s Rights Defenders League” shared examples of protection of children’s rights, especially in cases of domestic violence and child abuse. She talked about the work of professionals from different fields, from lawyer to social worker and teacher, who participate in the process of legal protection of children, as well as successful attempts of information exchange and best practices between NPOs of Central Asia region.

The second guest was a sociologist and human rights activist Gulmira Ibraeva, who talked about the ways and means of human rights protection through presenting various theoretical approaches and practical examples. Ms. Ibraeva presented different national models of protection and realization of the citizen’s rights. According toGulmira Ibraeva, “Rights are not given; they have to be fought for”. Regarding the future course, she called for refraining from expressing personal political views during the teaching process, and offering students instruments of impartial and professional analysis.

The participants also discussed the comments made by EWMI Program Director Nickolas Mansfield and experts of the Johns Hopkins University. As a result of the discussions, the participants made necessary changes to the syllabus. The new draft will focus more on the examples from the Kyrgyz experience, the role of nonprofit sector in promotion of the Rule of Law in the Kyrgyz Republic as well as its application in the work and operational activities of NPOs in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Chief of Party of the USAID Collaborative Governance Program Mark Grubb received four Letters of Appreciation from the leadership of Kyrgyz National, Osh, Jalalabad, and Batken State Universities for significant contribution in advancing NPM education in the Kyrgyz Republic

Memorable photo of 20 professors from 11 Consortium Universities with Mark Grubb, Chief of Party of the USAID Collaborative Governance Program – collaboration, trust, and commitment of both Mark and professors brought meaningful results

Coordinator of NPM Resource Center at Naryn State University Esenbay Sargashkaev expressing gratitude to COP Mark Grubb for support with opening the Resource Center at NSU, which serves as platform for expanding NPM education in the region

Coordinator of NPM Resource Center at Osh SU Baktygul Maksytova will miss Mark Grubb and his support and advice

Coordinator of NPM Resource Center at Batken SU Dooronbek Sattarkulov thanked Mark Grubb as COP for providing the support with new IT technology and equipment, which made the NPM Resource Center a base for cooperation with local government and private sector leaders

Coordinator of NPM Resource Center at KNU Irys Beybutova as a hub University leader thanked Mark Grubb for his tremendous contribution and support in advancing NPM education in KR

Nazgul Turdubekova from the Public Foundation “Child’s Rights Defenders League” encouraged the participants to equip the students with necessary knowledge and understanding of their rights so they could be able to protect themselves and their families from racketeering, kidnapping and other human rights violations, and become more legally literate and responsible citizens

According to sociologist and human rights activist Gulmira Ibraeva, “Rights are not given; they have to be fought for”. Ms. Ibraeva has also highlighted the importance of developing students’ skills on content analysis and discourse analysis of various information sources, from legislative acts to news articles

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